I Still Need You
by temporaryinsanity91
Summary: Ron deals with the aftermath of the Lorwardian Invasion; Kim and Ron's parents start to realize that their kids are grown up. very short story. T for some language and somewhat graphic descriptions. un-betaed.
1. Chapter 1

**Something that came to my mind today. Short, only a couple chapters, maybe three max. hope you all enjoy.**

**~temporary insanity**

* * *

Graduation was over, and there were people still milling around. Kim was happy. She wasn't the valedictorian, like she'd wanted (but she wasn't mad...Felix had deserved to take that stage, and he'd willing to turn it over to her instead) but her diploma read 'highest honors' and she was actually around to receive it instead of captive in an alien ship.

She met Ron's eyes from a ways away, and they started moving toward each other, each drawn by the other like magnets. She hugged him hard, her legs wrapping around him too. He just breathed a chuckle and squeezed her closer, inhaling her scent.

He sensed her exhaustion, and there was a bruise forming in the side of her face from the aliens picking her up and throwing her around like a damn rag doll. It made him angry, and he rigidly forced down the feelings of anger and terror he felt the moment he heard that freak Warhok talking about stuffing her and hanging her on the wall like some weird fucked up taxidermy project. He squeezed her unconsciously, only releasing her when she coughed a little. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Wade walked up to them, followed by Dr. Director. "Sorry to break up the reunion guys, but the director says you both need to give your report to the authorities now."

Kim nodded and took Ron's hand in hers and took her broken heels in her other hand. She was barefoot and frankly, it was more comfortable than being in those things.

Betty Director surprised them both by hugging them. "I'm glad you're both alright," she said quietly before motioning the team of young heroes to follow.

* * *

"Well, make yourself comfortable," Yvonne Stoppable told her red-haired best friend later that night.

"Thank you," Anne responded quietly, watching her husband take in his surroundings. There was a den and also a small room which had been converted into a guest room. "When did you all do the basement?"

"While back," Dan answered with a smile. "Hope you guys are comfortable here. How long until you know what's going to happen to the house?"

"They haven't even moved the alien thing yet," Dr. James Possible muttered. "I have no idea. So I guess you boys and Kimmie-cub will stay in the guest room then," he said, turning to his sons.

"Aww man," they grumbled, turning to the second floor, momentarily disgruntled. They brightened though, at the idea of having to share a room with their older sister and all the pranks they could pull on her.

Both sets of parents chuckled and headed upstairs as the door slammed again.

"You sure you're okay, KP?" They heard Ron ask his girlfriend.

"I'm great."

"They didn't... hurt you or probe you or anything you see on TV?"

A chuckle. "No, I wasn't probed anywhere, and they didn't put anything in my brain, or anything like that. They just locked us in a room with rather crappy security."

"I don't call a laser cannon pointed at you face 'crappy security' KP," came the slightly annoyed answer. They could hear the shudder in his voice as they rounded the corner into the kitchen.

Kim tilted her head, studying him. Then she pulled him to her, squeezing him close. He returned the hug fervently before meeting her eyes. He swallowed hard, and then he pressed his lips to her forehead, then her lips. "Come on, I'll get you settled upstairs," he murmured.

Mr. Stoppable cleared his throat then. "Uh, I don't think so."

Yvonne nodded in agreement with her husband. Anne Possible crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at her daughter and daring her to argue. Dr. Possible just looked green.

Kim raised an eyebrow right back. "What's the big? Ron and have shared a room before." Her voice was testy. She was definitely _not _in the mood.

"The _big_ is that things between you are different now."

The younger redhead smirked, looking each of Ron's parents in the eye before defiantly meeting her parent's gazes as well. "And who says we haven't shared a room since we got together? It's been a year since we started going out, and since then, there have been plenty of over-night missions that we've had to camp or bunk somewhere. _However," _she said, her voice losing it's defiant edge and sounding hurt, "I thought you trusted us... and so we've never betrayed that trust. When we're working, we're working, and not doing anything else. If we never did anything when we've had the chance being hundreds and even thousands of miles away, why on earth would I betray your trust _under your roof, as a guest in your house?_!"

Ron rubbed her back. "KP, it's okay," he whispered into her ear. "You can stay in my room, I'll take the couch in the den downstairs."

"Absolutely not," she countered. "I'm not booting you from your own room."

The parents didn't like the idea either, but he glared at them. "Let me remind you where KP has spent the last twenty-some hours: First, her _house _got smashed to smithereens, then some alien space ship came and disappeared with her, and she spent the next eight hours in space, captured by aliens. And _then,_ she had to save all of our miserable butts and _then, _she had to get questioned by every single federal agency _and _Global Justice for hours. So, you'll forgive me if I don't particularly care about your opinion, KP deserves to sleep in a real bed tonight, and she will. So I'm going to get her settled in my room now, and this is the end of this discussion. Come on, KP," he said to her gently. He followed her out of the room, leaving their parents in stunned silence.

* * *

When they reached his room, Ron rummaged through his drawers, pulling out a pair of shorts and a tee shirt for her to sleep in since her pajamas were lost in her destroyed house. "Tomorrow my mom will take you guys shopping for some stuff to wear," he said absently, moving into his bathroom to find a spare toothbrush and set out a towel for her in case she wanted to shower.

She watched him quietly. His room had changed a bit over the past few months. His parents, feeling bad for booting him to the attic without warning him, had walls and wood panels put in and a bathroom built, as well as a real closet and other basics. Eventually the futon he slept on was traded for a full sized bed, and his old furniture was also replaced. His room was restful, the cerulean tones on his bedspread and curtains and the warm wood on the walls made the room restful and masculine. It was so _Ron. _She loved being in here. He returned with a triumphant grin and a yellow toothbrush in his hand, and she couldn't help but smile in response. He seemed less shaken up by the whole Lorwardian invasion thing in that moment, and she was grateful to see a bit of his _Ronshine. _"Are you sure you don't mind?"

He shook his head and kissed her cheek. "No, KP. I'll be fine. Just... rest, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, Ronnie," she said as his arms wrapped themselves around her. She melted into his embrace. "Goodnight," she whispered.

"Sweet dreams," he responded in a whisper, squeezing her briefly before heading down the stairs.

She waited for him to leave before showering and slipping into the sleepwear he provided her. They smelled like him, as did his pillow. She fell asleep almost instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

_"...take care of my family... keep my brothers out of trouble. I know you can save them, Ron. Please, pleas save them. love you, I'm sorry." The green light was pulling her up, and he was trying desperately to her away from it. She was just smiling sadly. "I have to let you go," she whispered._

_"No," he cried. "KP don't let go, we can do this just—" Before he could finish, his fingers slipped from her grasp. He landed on his ass rather ungracefully on the ground, watching in horror as she disappeared into the green light._

_He wanted to kill the first thing he could get his hands on. The distinct screech of monkeys filled his mind, and he didn't even get annoyed. He gave himself over to the coolness that tingled in his veins, and the world around him came into sharp focus. In what seemed like a moment, he was in front of one of the giant machines that was destroying his town. With an enraged roar, he attacked it, methodically destroying it. Somehow, Shego appeared at his side, helping him destroy the terrible things._

_Wade somehow managed to contact them, letting them know that he'd infected them with some sort of virus that would deactivate them all over the world._

_With that knowledge, he celebrated the victory by demolishing the rest of the machines. All over the world, the machines from Lorwardia were reduced to scrap metal._

_In the mean time, his beloved best friend and girlfriend had managed to escape imprisonment. He could see the hallways she navigated, irritated by the length of them, and the confusion that resulted in the maze of paths. She reached a control room and started to break everything she could. Snapping every wire, breaking every instrument, and systematically destroying everything within reach. The aliens found her, though, and restrained her easily. She struggled fruitlessly against them, and he watched helplessly as she was strapped down. Then the screaming began._

_Suddenly he was on the ground again, watching the enormous ship fall, almost slowly, toward the ground. He screamed for help desperately. He knew instinctively that KP was on that ship, and it was going to crash and everyone on it was going to die. He couldn't let her die..._

_The resounding boom and the intense shock wave drove him to his knees, and he shielded his eyes from the brightness of the explosion that followed the ship impacting the ground._

_In an instant he was on his feet, running. He could see the smoke rising, but it took him forever to reach the mangled, burning space craft._

_He could see the wreckage spread over hundreds of yards, and the intense heat from the burning was making it difficult for him to breathe. He plunged forward anyway, not noticing the heat anymore._

_Body parts. Green ones. Broken instruments._

_Blood. So much blood._

_His stomach lurched. "KP!" he called desperately._

_He ran around a huge piece of debris and froze. More body parts. A leg. Broken Kimmunicator. A mangled hand. Pieces of shiny, black cloth, burning. Her toga, his mind thought incoherently._

_More blood._

_Oh God._

_Just when he thought he couldn't see anymore..._

_A spray of blood on the gigantic wall. Red hair, pale skin stained with blood. Missing limbs. Her body, emaciated and badly burnt, hanging limply from where she'd been—_

_He threw up, heaving over and over again. His stomach convulsed painfully._

_The beam had trespassed her body completely, and blood made it metallic red._

_He knew she was dead._

_"No." The word fell from his lips over and over as panic rose in his chest, suffocating him. "KP," he choked out with a whimper. Then the dam broke. "KP," he wailed, collapsing to the ground, sobbing._

_Darkness overtook his world._

* * *

Ron bolted upright, his chest and stomach constricting and convulsing. Sweat covered his body, but a sinister cold overtook him, making him shake uncontrollably. He bolted off the couch and ran for the bathroom, heaving until his chest burned and his stomach had nothing left to reject. Shakily climbing to his feet and almost collapsing with the weakness that suddenly came over him, he dizzily splashed water in his face, rinsing his mouth.

Stumbling blindly, he took the stairs through the main floor and the second, barely having the strength to crawl up the flight of stairs to the attic room where she was sleeping. Somehow he made it up there and stumbled across the room, slipping under the covers and pressing himself as close to her body as he could.

Her body. It was warm and complete. Her breathing was slow and even, and her heartbeat thumped away contentedly, the proof that everything had just been a horrible, horrible dream.

With a sigh, she turned on to her back, her face turning toward him. Her breathing didn't change, and she was just as relaxed as she'd been moments before. Her eyes were closed still, but he knew she was awake.

She simply turned toward him, pushing him onto his back and laying her head on his chest as she curled into him. "Good night Ron," she whispered into his chest. "I love you."

He didn't respond except to squeeze her close. Her breathing, slow and deep, helped him regulate his own. He lay awake for a while, listening to her be _alive,_ running his hands through her soft hair, over the soft skin of the thigh that she'd inadvertently thrown over his legs in her effort to be close to him.

He finally breathed a shaky sigh of relief as the last of the horrid images his mind had conjured faded away. She was alive, and she was here. He saved her. She wasn't in the demolished alien ship, she didn't die, blown to pieces and impaled and burning like some weird fucked up roast. She was alive and whole, here in his arms in his room.

He purposely drew a slow breath, timing it with hers. Yes, she was breathing. Bruised and battered and exhausted, but breathing... surviving, like she always did. She was a survivor, a fighter. She'd managed to live through the damn apocalypse and she did it virtually unscathed.

He let his chin rest on top of her head, smirking a little as she gave a tiny grunt in protest. He kissed her head to pacify her, letting his eyes slip closed.

_She smells like... life,_ was his last conscious thought.


	3. Chapter 3

"Kimberly Anne." She was roused by her mother's flat voice.

"What is it?" she mumbled, scrubbing the sleep from her eyes. The space next to her on the bed was empty, but still warm; he hadn't been awake for long. As she awoke further, the distinct scent of eggs and pancakes filled her nose and she sniffed appreciatively. Oh... he hadn't been awake for long... Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough," her mother said quietly, her voice still flat.

She knew they were caught then, and she got out of bed, ready to argue. The only thing that stopped her was the distinct sizzling of turkey bacon and Mrs. Stoppable's voice announcing that breakfast was ready.

Giving her mother a very pointed look, she went into Ron's closet and pulled out a hoodie and a pair of her jeans that she'd left here on one occasion or another. The sweatshirt was huge and she practically swam in it, but it smelled like him, and she snuggled into it happily even though there was no air conditioning because the power had not yet been restored.

She padded down the stairs, immediately searching him out. They stood in front of each other for a long time, studying each other, communicating silently with their eyes. Finally, she spoke. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "How bad was it?"

He swallowed hard, and tears made his eyes glassy. "Bad," he whispered. "Really, really bad."

"I'm sorry, Ronnie," she whispered, leaning into him.

"When I woke up I... thought I'd lost you," he choked into her hair.

She squeezed him hard, then she let her hands roam his back and shoulders. Her fingers tangled in his blonde hair over and over until she finally pulled away from him, her hands framing his face before slipping down and resting on his chest. She studied his honey brown eyes for a moment. "There isn't anything in the universe that can take me away from you, okay? I'm... I'm not going anywhere, and nothing is going to happen to me. I... I'll never leave you."

He smiled a little and then he caught her in his arms, squeezing her until she had to remind him to let her breathe. He loosened his grip slightly, but pressed his lips to hers. She met his kiss happily, suddenly not interested in silly things like _breathing _anymore.

When the finally pulled apart, he gave her a sheepish grin. "I think our food is cold."

What she said next earned her a jubilant 'boo-yah' and a real smile: "I heard the BN in Go City is still operational."

He was out the door in a second, the only evidence that he'd been standing there moments before being the slight breeze that he'd left in his wake. She laughed and followed him out to her car, calling a hurried goodbye behind her as she hurried to catch up with him.

The trip to Go City had been sobering. There was destruction everywhere they looked. The giant hat had been torn off the Bueno Nacho and lay in pieces beside it, but somehow they still had their basic electrical functions, except for air conditioning. They ordered their food and ate by the harbor, where the destruction was minimal and the sun shone brilliantly on the water.

Ron turned to her, giving her a real smile again. "KP?"

"Hmm?" She swallowed a bite and looked at him.

Putting their food aside, he reached for her hands. "I love you," he said sincerely. Then he drew a shaky breath. "I'm... really glad you're home. This whole thing has showed me that... I really can't live without you."

Kim blinked back tears at the sincerity of his speech and launched herself at him, needing to be in his arms.

He held her close, kissing anywhere within reach of his lips. She shivered as his lips brushed her ear and pressed herself closer to him. "I love you too," she mumbled into his chest. "I can't live without you either. You're everything to me."

"And you, to me," he whispered in response.

* * *

"What do you think happened last night?"

"I thought I heard him in the bathroom," James answered his friend, looking thoughtful.

Anne sighed. "It doesn't matter what happened, we specifically told them they weren't to share the room."

"Yeah and they both took to that with about the submissiveness of a hungry tiger to a tamer," snorted Yvonne.

"What should we do? Ground them?"

It was James who shook his head. Heaving a heavy sigh, he stood and began to pace. He felt old. It wasn't too long ago that she'd been taking his baby girl to Middleton Park to play in the snow, or to the Rocket Booster's club. It felt like yesterday that she'd tugged on his sleeve and begged him, "please daddy, buy me a puppy!" and pouted adorably when he said no. He remembered distinctly the color of the little marbles in her pigtails as she bounced excitedly in her booster seat, telling him about her new friend Ronnie, and how they were going to be best friends forever.

"No boys. Ever. And driving? Pfft, forget about it." Those were among the new rules he'd naively given her after she'd flown a space craft _by herself _to rescue Ron at the tender age of fifteen.

He'd overlooked the fact that Ron was a _boy._ Stupid, stupid man, he cursed himself. Of course she'd fall for him, he knew her better than she knew herself. And he wasn't a boy... not anymore. He'd proven himself over the past day to be very much a man, returning the enormous favor of going into outer space to save her life.

Of course she'd share a _bed _with him... she shared everything else with him. She shared all her dangerous experiences with him, trusting him with her life over and over again. She shared her successes and failures...

He'd looked into his wife's sparkling blue-green eyes a thousand times as he did the same, and the thought made him swallow hard. She'd marry him, he finally admitted to himself. His baby girl wasn't his baby girl anymore. Now she was...

Ron's girl.

"Jimmy?" His wife whispered, watching him in concern.

He swallowed again, and then he turned to her. "Leave them be," he said quietly.

"What?" The other three sputtered.

James looked at his wife and swallowed hard again. "He looks at her the way I look at you," he whispered. "He... _loves her. _ And she loves him. They... they grew up, Annie. They grew up a long time ago... they grew up the first time they ever went on a mission together. Stopping them... it's just delaying the inevitable."

Anne watched her husband struggle with the realization that she'd come to some time ago: their little Kimmie and her best friend were not children anymore. "You're right, honey," she conceded quietly, "but they still disobeyed directly, and as the grown ups they are now, they can face the consequences of that."

Yvonne nodded immediately. "I agree. While... while they aren't the youngsters they used to be, they are still under, I guess you can say, our roof, and so they still have to obey the rules."

The other three stood as the couple in question entered the house their laughter echoing in the front hall. She was still wearing his sweatshirt, and her hair was in a pony tail. Her cheeks ere flushed and her eyes were bright. He looked at her with nothing but adoration, an elated smile on his face. "Oh hey, mom and dad," Ron said when he saw them standing. He pulled Kim along by the hand, putting his arm around her as the sat down. "We want to talk to you guys."

All for parents stood extremely still.

Kim reached across his lap and squeezed his hand. "I decided what school I want to go to, and Ron is going with me."

James swallowed hard, trying to smile for his daughter. He knew that they'd go away together at some point, whether they were a couple or not, so this wasn't news to him.

What she said next was. "We're going to Go City. Smarty Mart has a scholarship program for its employees, and he applied. Go City University School of Business is excellent, and Martin Smarty himself has vouched for Ron more than once. He's going to transfer there to work, and I've applied to several jobs there as well. Ron's expecting his acceptance any time within the next couple weeks."

"So... you're going to get apartments in Go City then, instead of campus housing?"

They both shook their heads. "_One _apartment. Near but not on campus. There's one we could afford together in the harbor."

Complete silence.

"When would you be moving?" Asked Dan, clearing his throat.

"End of the summer," Ron replied, squeezing Kim's hand gently. They smiled at each other, leaning toward each other like magnets, their lips meeting briefly. Kim's nose skimmed his cheek briefly and she curled into him. He wrapped his arms around her, and Yvonne watched them get comfortable. They fit, like puzzle pieces, and it made her heart constrict a little. She now understood James's struggle. Her son wasn't a little boy anymore... he was a man, very much in love with the woman of his dreams.

"Congratulations," she said sincerely, and her son untangled himself from his girl's limbs to wrap his arms around his mother. He was taller than her... not enough to tower over her, but tall enough to engulf her in his embrace.

He shook his father's hand, and the man looked his son in the eyes. He was satisfied; his son was happy, and he didn't want anything more.

Ron turned to James, expecting a half-hearted threat about deep space and black holes and the like. Which was why it surprised the life out of him when the older man hugged him. "Please... take care of my baby," he whispered.

Ron nodded into his shoulder. "Of course, Mr. Dr. P. She's my life too," he said, his voice rough with emotion.

Ron proceeded into the kitchen to make dinner, and Kim and the twins pulled out a board game.

Neither Kim or Ron ever got grounded.


	4. Epilogue

**Four years later...**

Ron put on his coat and ambled toward the exit. He and KP had graduated the year before, and were comfortably settled into life in Go City. He'd gotten his degrees in business and in accounting, and was currently settled into a corporate job at Smarty Mart. Kim had gotten a degree in Criminal Justice, of course, and was doing a master's degree in Anti-Terrorism. She had gotten a job managing a Club Banana, of course, to supplement their income while she studied. When he got home, she'd invariably be sitting on the couch, feet tucked under her, fidgeting with her wedding ring or chewing on her pen cap, with her nose buried in one book or another. Watching her study was adorable.

They'd gotten married in July after graduation, and were coming up on six months of being married. He loved her with every fiber of his being. Every time he looked at her, he felt his heart surge and his veins tingled with the elation that went through him. It was the best feeling in the world.

Walking into the parking lot, he slipped his phone out of his pocket, clicking it on. His screen was a picture of them, her smooching his cheek and him grinning at the camera goofily. His coworkers always joked about him being whipped. He didn't care. He liked it. He smiled at the picture for a moment before dialing home.

"Hey Ron," came her soft voice.

"Hey KP. On my way home, baby. Thought I'd pick up dinner tonight instead of cooking."

He could practically hear her shrug. "Sure. What are you bringing, BN?"

He shook his head even though he couldn't see, sticking his key in the ignition and starting the car. "No... I was thinking Italian, is that alright?"

"Perfect. I hear you driving, I'll talk to you when you're home."

"Okay. I love you, KP."

He heard her soft sigh in response. "I love you too, Ron. Very much."

He hung up as he was pulling into the street. He drove carefully, making his way to the Italian joint he'd taken her for their very first date in Go City. Some of that part of town had yet to be rebuilt from the invasion, and alot of rubble and boarded up buildings met him as he got closer to the restaurant. he even swore he saw a piece of one of their machines. it made him shudder.

He ordered their usual, and while they were preparing his order, he went across the avenue and bought a dozen red roses for her. Picking up his food, he started home. His phone rang, and he knew it was his mother by the ringtone. He slipped his handsfree into his ear. "Hi mom."

"Hi Ronnie, honey."

"How are you guys? How's Hana?"

"Doing well, she misses you."

"I miss her too. Dad?"

"At work still."

"Oh. Tell him hi. I'm on my way home."

"Oh you aren't talking while driving, are you?"

Ron chuckled. "I have a bluetooth thing. Both hands on the wheel, I promise." _She's such a mom,_ he thought to himself. He felt like he was in driver's ed again, watching the brain injury videos talking about distracted driving or drinking and driving. He sort of liked that his mom nagged at him over it. In a way, it felt good feeling like a teen at home again.

"Okay. Do you know if you're going to come home for the holidays, son?"

"KP's going to be studying most of the time, but yeah we'll go home. She misses her parents, I think. She doesn't say much, but... I just know."

"They miss her too."

"How's Mr. Dr. P.?" James had had a heart attack scare a couple years back. Thankfully, the situation was resolved, said to be due to stress, much to Kim's relief. She'd gone home for a week or two when that happened, frightened out of her wits by the prospect of losing one of her parents. She was very quiet and reserved when she came home.

"Doing well. Complains about his diet and stuff a lot, but it's mostly in jest. Anne is keeping him in line."

"Good," he said with a chuckle. After that day back home, James and Ron had taken to each other about like a duck and water, bonding over Kim and Captain Constellation, and when he was old enough, drinks at the sports bar and such. He really did love his father-in-law, and he'd been really sad when he found out about the heart attack. He'd called in every day, talking to him and admonishing him to stay healthy. "We need you still," he told the older man one day. That'd all but reduced them both to tears.

They talked a few more minutes before Ron finally reached his apartment building. "Mmkay, I'm pulling into the garage at home so I'm going to talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. I love you, Ronnie. Take care our girl," she said with a chuckle, and he grinned.

"Always. I love you too, Ma. Talk to you soon."

He turned off the car and practically ran to the elevator, suddenly thrilled to be home. He couldn't wait another minute. He shifted impatiently as the elevator took forever before it dinged, revealing the shiny interior of it. He shifted his weight again as the damned thing took it's sweet time reaching the fifteenth floor. When it finally dinged open again, he grabbed the food and flowers and ran down the hall. He was about to fumble with his key when the door flung open and his favorite person in the world launched herself into his arms.

He smiled. "Hey KP baby," he whispered into her hair.

"I missed you, Ronnie," she mumbled into his chest in response. Then she she took his hand and pulled him inside.

He smiled when he saw her books on the ground near the window and an empty chair. She'd been waiting for him, watching for his car, even though it was highly unlikely that she could actually see him from all the way up here. It didn't matter; there was a part of them that was always aware of when the other was close. He jokingly referred to it as 'Kimmie-sense' once, the ability to know when she was close and if she felt alright or if something was wrong, without even looking up. Perhaps that came from years of having to work together on missions.

They didn't do missions anymore. Wade had gotten a job with GJ, and since they'd gotten married, they decided to try their hand at being normal. The part of the website that accepted missions was shut down, leaving only their mission logs and the occasional messages from Wade, KP, or himself. Surprisingly, hundreds of thousands of people still followed their page, and it ended up being a bit like a blog. Team Possible memorabilia sold out constantly, and he'd seen a couple of people here in Go City wearing a tee-shirt or hoodie with the logo emblazoned on the front. He felt happy that they'd made such a positive difference in the lives of those people, it was what KP always wanted.

Kim was sitting on the couch, watching him. He sat down next to her, immediately on alert. His "Kimmie-sense" wasn't on red alert, but whatever she had to say next was important and serious, and he turned away from his train of thought to listen to her.

Her bright green eyes shone with happiness, and she handed him something. He opened it. It was a folder, and it contained a black film. He held it up to the light and squinted at it, trying to make out what was printed on it. After a moment, he stared at her. "Are you serious?"

She nodded, and a grin spread across his face. "Really?!"

She nodded again.

Wiping the shit-eating grin off his face, he took her hands. "How far... I mean, how long have you been..." he shook his head, trying to formulate a coherent sentence.

It was a good thing she understood him. "They told me about nine weeks."

"Wait... so when are you due?"

"July the first."

He couldn't help it. The shit-eating grin was back, bigger than before.

They were going to be a _family. _Oh...

He reached for her then, spinning her around and around before putting her on the ground. They both stumbled dizzily, but managed to stay upright as their lips met over and over between their happy laughter.

He was going to have a family. It was the best day of his life.

* * *

He woke up in a cold sweat. He still had nightmares, sometimes, about the alien invasion. Of course, when he looked over at her, she was watching him. "I didn't mean to wake you, KP," he mumbled.

She rubbed her growing belly. "I don't sleep too well these days anyway," she said.

He reached out and touched her stomach too, feeling his baby move around. "Damn, girl, don't you sleep?" he complained, even though he was smiling.

Kim shook her head, laughter in her eyes. "Nope. Doesn't let mommy sleep either."

He chuckled, bringing his hand up to her face. Brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear, he took in her face. "God I love you," he breathed. "I can't live without you."

Kim turned her face a little, pressing a kiss into his palm. "You don't have to, Ron. Okay? Not ever."

"Don't let go of me ever," he pleaded, tears clogging his throat.

Kim wiped his tears with her fingers, caressing his face. "Ron?"

"Yeah, KP?" He croaked.

"I can't live without you either."

He slept peacefully after that.

* * *

**That summer...**

"Hi daddy," Kim chirped, shifting their baby girl to her other arm so that she could hug her father properly.

"Hi Kimmie-cub," he said, kissing his daughter's cheek before stroking his grand-daughter's chubby little cheek. She was two weeks old now, and she was absolutely beautiful.

"Where's mom?"

"Out to grab lunch," he answered, following her into their living room. They didn't have the apartment in downtown Go City anymore. Ron had gotten them a townhouse in the suburbs that was just big enough for the three of them. It reminded the older man of his first few years of marriage.

Kim curled up with on the couch with the baby, cooing and babbling to her as she brought a bottle to her lips.

Her father watched her in silence. There was a part in his chest that was melancholic as he watched her interact with her daughter. She'd always be his little girl, and it was at odds with the fully grown woman across the living room from him, feeding her own child.

Rebekah Anne. That was the baby's name. She had bright red lips and big cheeks and eyes like her mother's... or well, they'd probably end up like her mother's. However, she looked just like Ron, to the point where it made him chuckle a little, causing Kim to look up.

"What's so funny?"

"Just... thinking that she looks just like her dad."

"That's right," came a voice from the doorway. "She's got all her father's bon-diggety good looks as well as her mom's to boot. Can I feed her?" Ron breezed into the room with a big smile on his face.

Kim handed the baby to him as she protested sharply and loudly to her meal being interrupted. He sat down in a rocking chair in the corner. "Sorry, baby girl," he mumbled, putting the bottle to her lips. He rocked back and forth soothingly, meeting his daughter's eyes as they opened.

Ron's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. James knew the feeling well. He still felt that jolt in his chest every time he met his daughter's eyes. He watched his son-in-law bond with his little girl, and he smirked. _I give him twelve years,_ he thought to himself with a smirk, _before he's glaring at every boy her age._

Ron stood, gently tapping her back in an effort to get her expel any gas. "Come on, baby girl, make Daddy proud," he said, causing Kim to roll her eyes.

"Not too proud," she protested. "You're still a lady."

Rebekah burped long and loud, and Ron tried and failed to contain his laughter. "Yup," he chortled. "Definitely a lady."

James chuckled too. Rebekah gave a little sigh and then her lips puckered.

Kim smirked. "She's got the PDP down already. You're in so much trouble, Ron."

"Don't I know it," he grumbled, sitting back down to feed her the rest of the bottle while Kim stepped into the kitchen.

James followed, watching her set water to boil for pasta.

"How have you been dad?" She asked, not turning away from the vegetables she'd started to chop.

"Great, Kimmie-cub. Doctor says my blood pressure is closer to normal."

"Good. Keep it that way, okay?" He nodded, sort of tired of being admonished, but then she put down her knife and turned to him. "I mean it. I... I still need you, daddy." She turned back to her vegetables to hide the tears that sprang to her eyes.

He crossed the kitchen, taking his daughter in his arms. "I love you, Kimmie-cub. I'll always be here."

Ron came in and took over the rest of the cooking duties then, handing the baby to James so that he could kiss his wife and season some chicken for dinner. He rocked the little girl back and forth while watching her parents work in the kitchen together. They were efficient as they'd always been together, moving in the kitchen like some sort of sophisticated dance. It was obvious that he'd taught her what she knew about cooking, since she hadn't been able to cook worth a damn when she left home to be with him.

He really did make her life better, he observed, and the thought made him smile. He smiled wider as he watched him drop a kiss in her hair as he moved behind her to get something. She beamed at him, and his answering smile was blinding.

She made his life better as well. "She's my life too," he'd said. And as he watched them, he realized that it was true.

He smiled again. This was definitely their happily ever after.

* * *

**thanks for reading, guys. hope you enjoyed the story.**

**i did use the names for mr. and mrs. stoppable that i used in ILAW, but rest assured that this is not an ILAW piece. i just didn't want to think of new names, and i felt that those were different enough from what they usually get named that i could use them again.**

**please be sure to check out my other complete short story, 'Cold' as well as my one shots, and my full length fic, and all that good stuff.**

**DISCLAIMER: yall know the drill. i'm here for free, not owning so much as a fraction of the rights to this TV show or its characters, or else i'd be writing real episodes instead of this stuff.**

**toodles,**

**~temporary insanity**


	5. Outtake: The Explanation

**Hey guys. Working out some writer's block and some kinks in my full-length fic at the moment... so I thought I'd come this way for inspiration. I wrote this in response to a reviewer's sort-of suggestion. They wanted to know about Kim explaining to the parents why Ron ended up staying with her, and so here's how I thought it would go down. Takes place before the epilogue.**

**Enjoy the outtake and catch ya flipside.**

* * *

The evening had been filled with laughter as they played board and video games until dark.

"I'm heading to bed." Ron mumbled the words into the fiery red hair of his best friend slash girlfriend slash everything that had ever meant anything to him—

"I love you Ronnie."

"I love you too, KP," he answered, his nose skimming the skin on her neck. The power had returned today, and the house was now fantastically air conditioned. She now wore his hoodie comfortably, since the cool air in his house always made her shiver.

"Hey Ron?"

"Hmm?"

"I'll... see you upstairs, okay?"

He met the eyes of the parents in the room, who all suppressed sighs, and then he nodded, smiling softly at her as love and appreciation sparkled in his eyes.

When he was gone, she turned to the disgruntled adults with a sigh. "I know you guys don't like us to share the room. But we just got done telling you that we're moving in together at the end of the summer. He loves me, and I love him, and we love you. We would never disrespect you or each other. That means that we've set our own limits in our relationship and you have to trust that those limits will never allow us to do something that would make you uncomfortable or betray your trust. But they don't exclude me being his friend, and he needs me now. And I _will _be there." She drew a shuddering breath, studying her hands. "He came upstairs because of a nightmare."

Mr. Stoppable frowned. "That's hardly a reason for him to disobey something we—"

"He dreamed that I was in the alien ship when it crashed. He said that when he found... _my body..._ I was maimed and burnt and impaled on some beam. _Impaled. _As in, it went right _through _me. And I was dead. He woke up a complete mess, what was I supposed to do?"

All four parents remained silent. "He dreamed that you died?"

She nodded. "He... I've argued with him before about coming with me on the more dangerous missions, because he gets so shaken up after. He's so... like when Drakken tried the stupid thing with the Diablo toys, Ron would literally call me every night... sometimes crying, sometimes he'd show up at my window demanding to see if I was okay... or sometimes, he'd dream really stupid stuff like me being a synthodrone and melting into a pile of goo, or having goo-babies that attacked him... dear God, his imagination is really... his biggest fears about missions always have one thing in common, and that's all the horrible things that could happen to me if a mission went badly.

"He was so horrified by his dreams last night... he did what he always does, he came to me, because I'm his best friend. I'll never stop being that for him ever, and if that means that he shows up in my bed ever night then so be it. I'll never turn him away, especially not because of a dumb and frankly rather late rule."

James Possible sighed. "Yes, I admit we were rather late in trying to set up these rules with you two—"

"I could have died. I could have ended up as horrifically dead as I was in his dream." Her voice was distant and numb, and her parents shuddered at the emptiness in it. "Do you understand? His fear is not unfounded. Nine-foot tall green things came to my graduation, and the captured me. I could be some freak human experiment in their alien labs right now. Or worse, I could be stuffed and hanging on Warmonga's wall, like they threatened to do. Or option three, Ron might have had to save the world on his own knowing that I had blown up in an alien ship. I'm here because of him, because he risked the same happening to him... he risked his life for me. It's not as easy to move on from these kinds of missions as we make it look, you know. I have to deal with these things too.

"Do you know what it's like to have the person you care about the most in the world describe your death to you in graphic detail, knowing that it might have been quite accurate had things turned out differently? It's... weird, for one. And it's scary. I need him, and he needs me." Her voice had lost it's numbness and taken on an ironic edge. She didn't want to be so hard on her parents, or his. But they needed to understand everything that being a teen hero entailed, and that all that it entailed wasn't victory after victory, smiles and happiness, and bad ass teenagers that mocked doom, death, and destruction every day and walked away like it was just another day at the office. It was villains escaping, it was falling down and getting up, it was ending up in situations that could easily make them lose hope, and she told them about the times that she had, and that he swallowed his own fear to give her the determination she needed in order to get her head back in the game.

They listened as this fiery redhead that they'd watched grow cried as she quietly told them all of the times she'd seen the look of utter horror on Ron's face, identical to the one she'd seen on his face as he explained in detail how her demise had been in his dream.

When she finished, her emerald eyes, still brimming with tears, searched their faces for a moment before she stood, tiredly tugging a hand through her hair. "I love you," she said sincerely and quietly. "All of you. Everything we do, everything we've been through, it's all for you."

She disappeared up the stairs, her footfalls silent as they always were.

Anne Possible waited for her daughter to be gone before the tears spilled down her cheeks. "And here I thought we were supporting them," she said with a rueful chuckle.

"We did the best we could, Annie," Yvonne responded quietly, also shaken by the confession of the beautiful girl she'd always considered her own daughter. "We couldn't have known... we'd never known, they always act so normally."

James stared in the direction his daughter had gone. "There are some things nobody in the world understands except those that lived it with you," he said quietly, almost to himself. "Leave them be. After the hell they went through, they don't need to catch any more from us."

"You've been saying that since yesterday."

"He loves her. She trusts him with his life. They share their victories, their failures... their _traumas. _They saved the world, yes. More than once. But they save _each other. _For me, that is enough."

"For me, as well," Yvonne whispered.

"Well I need a drink," Mr. Stoppable muttered. "Anyone in?"

Three adults raised their hands, and shots were poured for everyone. "To our our grown up kids, and to their future," someone whispered.

_To my Kimmie-cub being as strong and beautiful as her mother,_ Thought James as he tossed back his shot.

_To my amazing, wonderful son,_ grinned Yvonne to herself. The alcohol burned down her throat, but she welcomed it.

_To getting drunk because my daughter is not a baby anymore, _Anne thought with a snort as she gulped the shot in a way that reminded her of her college days.

_To the official expansion of my family,_ thought Dan Stoppable with a smirk as he poured himself a second round. _I give them three years before they are engaged. And I give James twenty minutes before he's wasted._

* * *

Meanwhile, Kim ascended the stairs to Ron's room, expecting him to have fallen asleep already. Instead, he was sitting on the bed, waiting for her. "You alrght, KP?"

She looked surprised. "You're awake?"

He nodded and looked away. "I didn't want to sleep alone."

She crossed the room, wrapping her arms around him. He pulled her next to him on the bed and she toed off her shoes. In seconds, they were both sound asleep. She never even changed out of her jeans.

* * *

**Let me know what you guys think, and if there's any other scenarios you'd like to see, let me know too. Thanks :)**

**~ temporary insanity**


	6. yup I'm back

**Hey guys... okay i think if you follow any of my other stories you were expecting this. i'm in your inbox... again. and that's really entirely your fault. **

**this isn't bad, i promise. its only an epic thanks to you for your support in this story and the others that I've posted. So again, thank you. **

**I'm posting this short note for a simple reason: I need your votes!**

**It's voting time in the Fannie Awards and this story is nominated for the following:**

**_best Kim/Ron_**

**_best short story_**

**you can find the info on how to vote at triple W dot fanfiction dot net slash topic/329/86054354/1/2012-Fannie-Voting-step-1. **

**Thanks to the ppl who nominated this story, and thanks to everyone that makes it over there to vote for their favorites.**

**Best of luck!**

**-temporary insanity**


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